Roman Catholic Church of St Mary

Summary

Roman Catholic church, 1906, which illustrates research by the academic Father Eugene Roulin into early Christian forms, art, architecture and symbolism. The hall, added to the south side of the church in 2002, is not of special interest and is excluded from the listing.

Reasons for Designation

The Roman Catholic Church of St Mary is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Interior: especially for its interior decoration thought to have been designed by Fr. Roulin, a notable academic particularly interested in early Christian art and symbolism;
* Architectural interest: for its unusual design, being a relatively early example of the revival of early Christian forms;
* Historic interest: as a marker of the way that religious communities suppressed by the French government were able to find a new home in England;
* Craftsmanship: the building also includes some examples of high quality craftsmanship such as the ornate oak balcony front.

History

The Roman Catholic parish of Filey was established in the early years of the C20, partly to serve the spiritual needs of holiday makers. In 1904, a convent was opened in John Street for nuns from the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Evron. These nuns were part of an influx of French Catholics who came to Britain in the early years of the C20 as a result of the Laws of Association passed between 1901 and 1905 by the French Government. This series of anti-clerical legislation, continuing the secularisation of the French state that had begun in the French Revolution of the late C18, saw the disbandment of religious communities in France. A French Benedictine monk, Father Eugene Roulin, also came to Filey to serve as the convent's chaplain. Fr Roulin was an academic interested in the revival of early Christian forms, art, architecture and symbolism. He worked with the London architect Andrew Prentice to build St Mary's Church which opened in 1906. The interior decorative scheme is thought to have been designed by Fr. Roulin, drawing on early Christian sources, and was at least partially painted by nuns from the convent. In 1961 the church was extended with a large transept extending from the south side of the chancel. The post-Vatican Two re-ordering of the church in the late C20 saw the dismantling of the original ciborium over the altar and the loss of the decorative scheme from the east wall of the chancel. A large hall was added to the south side of the church in 2002, this being excluded from the listing as not being of special interest, about the same time as the internal painted decoration within the church was restored and partly simplified.

Details

Roman Catholic church, 1906 by Andrew Prentice and Fr. Eugene Roulin. Broadly Lombard Italianate style. Attached church hall added in 2002 is not included in the listing.

MATERIALS: very thinly jointed red Ruabon brick incorporating white rendered panels, cast concrete windows, modern buff tiled roof.

PLAN: nave without aisles, eastern chancel and western chapel, north porch and campanile. A large added transept extends from the south side of the chancel.

EXTERIOR: the nave is of five bays, the western bay of the north side being taken up by the campanile and the adjacent porch. The nave windows are round arched with cills, imposts and keystones formed from flat tiles. The window tracery is of cast concrete in the form of Middle Eastern sun screens, but said to have been derived from an early Christian mosaic from the C4. The nave is supported by stout buttresses which are embellished with panels, some bearing monograms and symbols. The nave's eastern gable is raised and coped, surmounted by a simple cross.

The campanile is Italianate and is also embellished with panels bearing symbols. It has an open belfry stage with a pyramidal roof capped by a pineapple finial.
The chancel is square ended and of a single bay. The east wall is embellished with a brick and render diaper pattern and has a mosaic roundel to the centre flanked by small, round arched windows without tracery. The north wall has a Lombard style paired window, being two round arched windows sharing a central stone pillar.

The west chapel is in the form of a canted bay, but with a projecting, double-pitched roof. Its west window matches those of the nave, being flanked on the canted sides by windows similar to the eastern chancel windows.
The south transept is of well matched materials and extends for four bays southwards from the chancel. The southern bay has a shallow, open porch, the other bays having Lombard style paired windows.

The attached church hall, added in 2002, is utilitarian in design and is not included in the listing.

INTERIOR: the nave is open to the roof which is supported by king post trusses, the whole displaying an elaborate painted scheme. The western bay has a raised gallery accessed from the west chapel, the ornate balcony-front being of oak. The part-glazed oak screens below are a latter addition. The side walls are oak panelled to window cill height, incorporating resin roundels forming the Stations of the Cross. The door to the sacristy is also oak, but incorporates gilt relief decoration. Above the panelling, the walls are plastered and embellished with an elaborate painted scheme with figurative and symbolic depictions of saints and other early Christian motifs. The north wall also incorporates two large painted relief panels. Windows have plain glazing, lighting of the interior being supplemented by roof windows.

The chancel arch is a plain round arch which is also included in the decorative scheme, although this has been simplified. The chancel has been re-ordered and the decorative scheme of the east wall painted over. Windows have figurative stained glass.

The transept is more simply treated, but has a Jacobean style plaster ceiling. Its windows are plain glazed.

The west chapel, the Martyrs' Shrine, has figurative stained glass to the two flanking windows. To the centre there is the church's original altar set beneath the front half of the ciborium.

Sources

Other
"Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough: An Architectural and Historical Review" Architectural History and Practice Ltd. March 2008

End of official list entry

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